Oaklands covers about 173 hectares in the northeast corner of Victoria along the Saanich border, between Hillside-Quadra, Fernwood and North Jubilee. The name is for the Garry oaks that still stand in Mount Stephen Park and along the Oaklands Rise walkway, and the area was the Prior family's Hillside Farm in the 1850s before a building boom between 1909 and 1913 set the pattern of modest Edwardian houses. The 2021 census counted about 3,300 households, almost all in detached houses or apartment buildings of fewer than five storeys; there is no high-rise in the neighbourhood.
Hillside Shopping Centre, which opened in 1962 at 1644 Hillside Avenue, is physically in Oaklands and is the retail anchor, with Thrifty Foods, Walmart, Canadian Tire and Marshalls. Haultain Corners at Haultain and Shelbourne is the small village, with Oaklands Elementary, built in 1913 and home to the community association, around the corner. Oaklands Park, Oswald Park and the Cridge Centre's 1893 grounds are the main green spaces. Route 4 along Hillside connects downtown and UVic and Routes 22 and 22A reach Victoria General Hospital. The City's plan calls for a Hillside town centre plan around the mall and more apartments along Hillside Avenue.
